Chop saws and miter saws are commonly found on jobsites because of their versatility and ability to make cuts that other power tools cannot make quickly. Typically a chop saw has a base assembly and a saw assembly attached to the base that can be lowered into a cutting position. One such chop saw illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,272,960, which is fully incorporated herein by reference.
A miter saw is a chop saw that has a rotatable table in its base assembly for allowing miter cuts. Some miter saws, such as the one illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,463, which is fully incorporated herein by reference, have a beveling saw assembly, which allows bevel cuts, i.e., inclined cuts relative to the workpiece-supporting plane of the base assembly and/or table. In addition, in some miter saws, the saw assembly may beveled rightwardly and leftwardly from a zero-bevel position, i.e., 90 degrees relative to the workpiece-supporting plane. One such chop saw illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 7,252,027, which is fully incorporated herein by reference.
One problem with prior art chop saws is that they may be unwieldy to carry. Users tend to carry them by holding the saw's base assembly with both hands, or carrying them by the carrying handle 26. The present chop saw is more manageable to carry.